Sliced Bread Isn't Actually All That Great

It really isn't when you think about it, all it saves you is a knife and about 30-40 seconds per slice. Compared to modern medicine, plumbing, the internet or these brushes, sliced bread is pretty lame.

So, GOSH eyeshadow brushes - the best thing since way before sliced bread?

Product Review - GOSH Flat Eyeshadow Brush


Side-by-side with my (stained) MAC 239.

Price: £6ish (I can't remember exactly, and can't find out from google.) or $13.50 in the US.
Where?: Superdrug stores (UK), GOSH Americas.com (US)
Aesthetic: 4/5 Matte black handles, black ferrules, natural brown bristles don't stain easily.
Quality: 4.5/5 They feel wonderful, but lose half a point for being machine-made & not all identical.
Value: 5/5 Taking into consideration price vs quality, it beats the MAC 239.

What It Is:
The GOSH Flat Eyeshadow brush is flat shader brush made from light brown pony hair. It is an extremely close duplicate of the MAC 239, my preferred eyeshadow brush for packing colour onto the lid. Flat shader brushes are typically dense, with stiff bristles in a slightly domed, mostly squared-off shape, which capture a lot of product in the dense bristles and allow it to be packed tightly onto the lid. They're my favourite for general eyeshadow application because they give such a pigmented finish.

Blurry close-up next to the Smurfy 239.

GOSH vs MAC:
In comparison to the MAC 239, the GOSH brush has the same length handle, but the metal ferrule is about 1.5cm shorter. The handle is the same width, but doesn't taper toward the brush like MAC's does, and is a more satiny matte black. It doesn't list the name of the brush, just the brand.
The bristles are every so slightly longer and very slightly more domed on the GOSH version, but also considerably softer than the MAC 239 whilst maintaining the density. It seems to not fray and keep its shape better than the 239, and for some reason is easier to clean. I have no idea why it's easier to clean, but it is, and in addition, the bristles don't stain easily. I've had my 239 there for 10 months, cleaned it regularly but as you can see, it's now blue, even when it is clean.

I actually prefer using my GOSH flat eyeshadow brush over my MAC 239 now, because it feels softer on the lid but delivers the same eyeshadow payoff, and is easier & faster to clean.

What I Love About It:
I love the way it looks, the handle feels smooth and satiny, I like the all-black handle/ferrule because I think it looks chic and sleek. I love the shape and density which make it as effective as the 239 and deliver great colour payoff with minimum drop-out, but I love that the bristles are a bit softer on my skin and that it only takes about 2 swipes on a towel after applying some brush cleaner to clean this completely. I love the price, too - £6(ish) as opposed to £17 for the 239. I've also experienced no shedding with it, as I have with the larger GOSH face brushes.

What I Hate About It:
I wouldn't say "hate" but I'd prefer it if the brush were synthetic, rather than animal hair, and I'm assuming they're machine made. I don't know that they are (I searched, but couldn't find out) but considering it doesn't say they're hand-made (a selling point) I'm going to assume it, plus there are very slight discrepancies and differences from brush to brush. They still feel better than my MAC brushes though.

I'd also like it if the brushes had their name on handle, or a number. Given how incredibly messy most Superdrugs are (seriously, what's wrong with you guys? What do you do all day? Your displays look like crap) it can be very hard to work out which brush in the packet corresponds to which brush on the tester rack (although the testers are usually missing or in the wrong place) although that is more Superdrug's failing, rather than GOSH's.

(Incidentally, I really really hate the Europe Gosh website. It's made in Flash so it looks pretty, but is hard to navigate, has no online store, doesn't offer prices or stockists and just frustrates me. But that doesn't affect how awesome the brush is, which is very.)

Is It Really Worth It?:
Absolutely. This one brush is ever-so-slightly better than the MAC 239 and almost 1/3 of the price. I can't say how well it wears, yet, but I've certainly used/washed it several times and it's still going strong.

Would I Re-Purchase?

A thousand times yes! Next time there's a 3-for-2 offer I'm going to buy a lot more of these. If they were the same price as the MAC 239, I'd probably buy the 239, because I'm a bit of a snob, I guess. But I can't ignore that one MAC 239 = three of these, especially when I really prefer using this one.

Verdict:
So, all in all, the GOSH Flat Eyeshadow brush gets:

A whopping 5 out of 5 Internets...


...And coveted status as one of my 1337 things.